Clare James Dip Counselling MSc Psychotherapy UKCP Reg

Abuse, Addictions, Anger, Anxiety, Assertiveness, Bereavement, Cancer, Career Issues, Childhood Issues, Codependence, Confidence Issues, Depression, Dissociation, Divorce, Dyslexia, Eating Disorders, Fear, Grief, History of Mental Illness, Lack of Meaning in Life, Loneliness, Loss, Marriage (Marital relations), Midlife Crisis, Mother and Baby Issues, Panic Attacks, Parenting Issues, Personal Growth, Personal Relationships, Personality Difficulties, Personality Disorders, Phobias, Physical Illness, Post Natal Depression (PND), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Pregnancy, Psychosomatic Symptoms, Rape, Redundancy, Self Development, Self Esteem, Self Harm, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Behaviour, Social Phobia, Stress, Suicidal Thoughts, Transitions, Trauma, Work Issues and Relationships

Integrative Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy

Female

I have worked in a wide variety of health care settings both as a nurse and then as a counsellor and psychotherapist. I worked in a psychiatric day unit for seven years and gained experience working with people suffering from personality disturbances, depression, mood disorders, anxiety, loss, and various kinds of abuse and trauma. I have been in private practice for ten years and I see clients for both short and long term face to face therapy. I also work with the Surrey Parent-Infant Mental Health team to promote healthier attachment relationships between infants and their carers. I have a particular interest in EMDR therapy which is a technique to help clients work through traumatic experiences that remain unprocessed in the person's brain, and can cause both physical as well as psychological pain and distress. I also offer supervision to colleagues to support them in their professional work and further development of their clinical skills.

I believe that human beings are born 'hard-wired' for attachment and need to experience a sense of being safe, secure, nurtured and understood in childhood, so that they can develop a flexible and robust sense of self in adulthood. Unfortunately, many people experience emotional and physical neglect, and learn harmful self-defeating ways of living. In my work, I support and challenge my clients to notice how they react and respond to others, to be curious about how they learnt this way of being, and then to learn how to become more mindful and reflective about what they are learning about themselves within a non-judgemental and compassionate therapeutic relationship. I then support the client to become more aware of how their body can become a container for a lot of their unprocessed emotional pain. As an Integrative psychotherapist I believe that the following therapeutic qualities are essential in the healing process: empathy, compassion, curiosity, humour, intuition, reflexivity, respect, a non-judgmental approach, and finally, a capacity to stand alongside my client and bear witness to their suffering and pain. The way I work with a client will be dependent on whether they seeking to understand their childhood and pre-verbal experiences, which may be more psychodynamic, or whether they are seeking to make meaning out of their life, which may focus more on the existential model, or perhaps they need to find coping strategies to work through stress related issues, which could require more of a cognitive and sensorimotor therapeutic approach. In the end, my aim is to support my client to live a life that they feel is worthwhile.

I undertook a five year training in Integrative Psychotherapy and gained a MSc in 2003. I also did a two year Diploma in Psychological Counselling and several Certificated courses in counselling. I am awaiting accreditation in EMDR and have a certificate in clinical supervision.

I have undertaken many courses and attended conferences and seminars relating to such topics as: Trauma and the Body, Neurobiology and Trauma, Attachment and Infant Observation, Sensorimotor Seminars, Parent-Infant Attachment Seminars, Self-harm, and EMDR workshops. I also attend my own clinical supervision for four hours per month to ensure my professional practice adheres to the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Codes of Practice.

As part of my counselling and psychotherapy training I have undergone nine years of personal therapy. I found the experience to be both illuminating and often painful! I am aware that it takes courage and humility to seek support, especially if you have had painful and humiliating experiences when you have asked for support or understanding in the past. I hope that I can offer you an experience of learning to accept yourself by experiencing being accepted by me.